As electronic devices increase in availability and decrease in price, electronic devices have found an increasing number of applications where workflows can be improved. For example, medical personnel have begun carrying electronic devices and using them to log medicines, treatments, conditions, etc. By electronically documenting information, treatment protocols are much easier to enforce and patient outcomes are improved. Likewise, workers in commercial and industrial environments have also begun carrying electronic devices. The devices can be used to log conditions of and maintenance performed on various equipment, and thus efficiency improved and downtime of equipment reduced by enforcing compliance with maintenance protocols.
Electronic devices have improved in receiving input from users, such as medical personnel and maintenance personnel. Initially, electronic devices included keyboards for receiving input from users. Keyboard are cumbersome input devices because they restrict input to characters and numbers. Further, keyboards take up significant space on an electronic device because fifty or more discrete keys must be fit in a small amount of space. These keys then become so small that they are difficult for an operator to enter input without making errors and needing to backspace and re-enter input. Later, electronic devices began incorporating touch screens that allowed users to enter input by tapping on the display screen of the electronic device. Early touch screens implemented resistive touch screens, in which the touch screen registers user input by detecting changes in resistance in the vicinity of the user's finger in a layer near the screen. Although the details of operation of such a resistance-based touch screen are unnecessary to describe, it can be noted that resistance-based touch screen work with any object that makes contact with the screen, including user fingers when gloves are being worn and conventional writing implements such as pens and pencils. This is one benefit of resistance-based touch screens, however accuracy and resolution are limited with these screens.
Recently, touch screens are transitioning from the resistance-based touch screens to capacitive-based touch screens. These touch screens detect changes in capacitance in layers across the display screen to detect user input. Again the details of operation of such a capacitance-based touch screen are unnecessary to describe, but it can be noted that capacitive-based touch screens can only detect user input when conductive items contact the touch screen. Thus, although human fingers are conductive enough to activate the touch screen, when gloves are worn over the fingers a user is no longer able to interact with the capacitive-based touch screen. Many people work in environments in which gloves are necessary. For example, some users work outdoors in cold climates where gloves are necessary to protect fingers from the elements. As another example, some users work in industrial environments involving high voltages or other hazards where gloves are necessary to protect fingers from these hazards.
Styluses are sold that provide users with the ability to interact with capacitive-based touch screens. Many such styluses are made in the shape of pencils and pens to provide a natural writing experience for the user. However, these styluses are frequently lost because they are difficult to keep track of, particularly in busy working environments and industrial environments.